Govt to lodge FIR against CMJ degree holders

NAGPUR: The Maharashtra government will lodge criminal offences against the persons holding fake degrees of Chandra Mohan Jha University (CMJU). Minister of state for higher and technical education DP Sawant made this announcement on the floor of legislative assembly. He was replying to the calling attention motion tabled by MLAs - Bala Nandgaonkar, Sudhakar Deshmukh, Devendra Fadnavis, Sudhir Mungantiwar, and others.

On June 4, TOI had exposed the CMJU's modus operandi and how it 'sold' thousands of fake degrees to students across the country, including over 4,000 PhDs sitting, for anywhere between Rs2 lakh and Rs5 lakh.

Sawant informed that about 36 persons having such fake degrees and recruited on that basis were found in the state. Of them, 30 were having CMJU degrees, five having degrees from another fake university in Rajasthan and one had degree from an unknown Tamil Nadu-based university.

The minister added that the government had already issued directives to all universities to not appoint teachers on the basis of such degrees, immediately cancel their appointments if recruited, also strip them of any pay allowances or promotions, and lodge criminal offences against them.

Among the 36 persons, seven such lecturers were found from Solapur University, six from Gondwana, and three from Nagpur and Swami Ramanand Tirth Marathwada universities each. Additionally, 20 more candidates possessing CMJU degrees had applied to various universities, including Amravati, Kolhapur and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar University in Aurangabad, but were ruled out.

The UGC also took cognisance of large-scale irregularities committed by the CMJU and constituted an expert committee to inquire into the allegations. The panel led by Tezpur Central University (Assam) vice-chancellor Mihir Kanti Chaudhuri comprising nine members, will probe into irregularities of CMJU, sources from Shillong informed.